A dishwasher is a household appliance which includes a main body having a washing tub therein, a basket for accommodating dishes, a sump for storing washing water, spray nozzles for spraying the washing water, and a pump for providing the washing water stored in the sump to the spray nozzles, and which is designed to wash the dishes by spraying the washing water at a high pressure to the dishes.
In general, a dishwasher employs a rotor-type injection structure with rotating spray nozzles. The rotating spray nozzles spray washing water while being rotated due to the pressure of the washing water. Since the rotating spray nozzles spray the washing water only within a range of radius of rotation, the washing water may not be sprayed to some regions of a washing tub. Thus, a so-called linear-type injection structure has been suggested to prevent occurrence of regions of the washing tub to which the washing water is not sprayed.
The linear-type injection structure includes fixed nozzles fixed at a side of a washing tub, and a vane configured to reflect washing water sprayed via the fixed spray nozzles toward dishes while being moved within the washing tub, and may thus spray the washing water to all regions of the washing tub as the vane is moved.
The fixed nozzles include a plurality of spray holes arranged in left and right directions of the washing tub, and are fixed onto a rear wall of the washing tub. The vane may be provided to extend in the left and right directions of the washing tub to reflect the washing water sprayed via the plurality of spray holes, and to make a reciprocating motion between the front and rear of the washing tub.
The linear-type injection structure may further include a driving device for driving the vane. The driving device may be embodied in many different forms. For example, the driving device may include a motor, a belt coupled to the motor to transfer a driving force to the vane, and a rail configured to guide movement of the vane, and may be configured such that when the motor is driven, the belt is rotated to move the vane along the rail.
In the linear-type injection structure, a distribution device which distributes washing water stored in a sump to spray nozzles may have a different structure from that of a distribution device of the rotor-type injection structure.
When the spray nozzles at the bottom of the washing tub are rotating nozzles, an outlet of the distribution device may be provided to face upward, so that a channel connecting the outlet of the distribution device and the rotating nozzles may be short and pressure loss of the washing water may be minimized
However, when the spray nozzles at the bottom of the washing tub are fixed nozzles, the fixed nozzles are located adjacent to a rear wall of the washing tub and thus the outlet of the distribution device need not be provided to face upward. Rather, when the outlet of the distribution device faces upward, the channel connecting the outlet and the fixed nozzles should be bent toward the rear of the outlet, starting from the outlet. Thus the pressure loss of the washing water may increase.
Meanwhile, in the linear-type injection structure, the spray nozzles are fixed and thus the washing water is distributed to only some of the entire spray nozzles. Accordingly, localized washing may be performed, in which the washing water is sprayed to only some regions of the washing tub.